


some things don't work (some things are bound to be)

by SilverLiningShadows



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Basically, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Major Character Injury, Meteorstuck, Mutual Pining, Retcon Timeline, dumb bitch, i fucking hate Gamzee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:33:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27932344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverLiningShadows/pseuds/SilverLiningShadows
Summary: Karkat's such an asshole.He's your best bro, but sometimes when he's screaming about some shit Vriska said to him you can't help but want to flip off the couch and hit your head on the floor so you don't have to hear any more of his bullshit.You do usually find it amusing, however.Sometimes you antagonize him on purpose, and you sit there while he spews angry nonsense into your glasses. You rotate between keeping a completely neutral expression and a smirk, but the smirk produces the more entertaining rants, so you favor it. You just watch him as he riles himself up and you can't help but feel some weird sense of right in the whole situation.You're not sure what the fuck is up with that.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket
Comments: 11
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've literally never liked Gamzee like wtf why are people so into him.

It starts in Can Town.

You're fucking around with chalk and the mayor's fixing the structural integrity in the library. You have Vriska to thank for the damage, but you're not _really_ holding it against her cause you're pretty sure she was just trying to get Terezi to go on a date with her instead of mucking around Can Town. You don't blame her for leaving, cause if you had anything better to do, you'd probably be somewhere else. Sure, you love the mayor, and Can Town is one of your finest achievements, but it gets old when it's just the two of you. The dude can't even make conversation, but you don't hold it against him. You just wish Terezi would roll up periodically to alleviate your all-encompassing boredom. You feel kind of lonely, knowing everyone else on the meteor is shacking up for the next few years. 

It sort of feels like that one scene in Lilo and Stitch where she's like "yo send me literally anyone", so of course your own small angry alien makes an appearance.

"What the fuck are you doing, Strider," Karkat says. He sounds only mildly interested, but you assume he's grasping at social straws for anyone to talk to at this point.

You peer up at him through your shades. He looks confused, arms engulfed in his oversized sweater, eyes boring a hole in the floor trying to decipher the chalk masterpieces you and Terezi have placed there. "I'm making a library," you say, very matter-of-fact.

He looks like he's going to start an argument for a second, then deflates and drops to the floor besides you. "Okay," he sighs. "Where are you putting it?"

It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

...

It becomes a routine.

You wake up, alchemize some breakfast, wish Rose would figure out how to alchemize aj, and head to Can Town. The mayor's always there (you don't know if the guy sleeps somewhere else, but you'd bet not). You start on whatever project the little guy's excitedly gesturing at, and after awhile Karkat slumps in.

"What's wrong sleeping beauty?" you smirk. He looks particularly worn out today despite it being the "morning". "Prince charming forgot to wake you up?"

"Shut your fucking mouth," he growls. You keep your amusement in check, lest he thinks you actually have emotions. "Has the hive complex been completed yet?"

"Nah, man," you reply, handing him a piece of chalk. "That's all you."

...

After spending enough time with Karkat, you begin to understand his ticks. Sure, the guy's a pretty open book about his likes and dislikes, but there are little mannerisms he has that you finally understand once you've looked at the guy long enough. The shades definitely help you with the watching part. You're pretty sure if Vantas ever caught you staring at him, he'd throw a hissy fit and stab you. You're pretty sure you could take him, but you've died enough already and you don't want to get involved in the hate-fucking quadrant, so you have to be stealthy. 

You've noticed his brows furrow when he's either really focused or incredibly pissed. Riling him up is hilarious but you're a bigger fan of his focused mood. He can sit like that for hours, reading his shitty troll romances curled up on the common room couch. You find yourself more often than not chilling next to him mixing some sick beats, but you usually take a lengthy break to observe him, so you still have a ways to go with your tracks. Rose catches you staring once. You try to play it cool but she starts psychoanalyzing you and shit once Karkat's gone back to his block.

She raises an eyebrow. "You seemed rather occupied over there, Dave. I'm sure you need only ask and he would be happy to share his book with you." She's messing with you. She knows full well you were not trying to read Karkat's bullshit excuse for a book. 

Rose just likes seeing you squirm.

"Yeah, well I was trying to get my study on about Troll romancing. I'm so studious I'm basically a Harvard law student, all reading books and shit."

"I'm sure. Did you find any of it enticing? Karkat would definitely be willing to enlighten you on the finer details," she tells you. Fuck, you've really dug yourself into a hole here. The hole's so deep you're pretty sure you'll fall out the other end of the meteor. At least you won't have to listen to Rose try to pick apart your psyche. You're glad Kanaya is, for once, not present.

"It's actually an independent study," you reply.

She rolls her eyes and goes back to her knitting. You were not looking at him cause you're all into the guy. You're just trying to solve the puzzle that is Karkat.

...

You've been having these nightmares.

It's usually the same. You and Bro are strifing on the roof, baking in the hot Texas sun. It's going pretty well until it isn’t, and he's coming at you with a vengeance you've never seen from him before. Usually he was just toying with you. When you finally fell he'd look at you in disappointment before leaving you to roast in the heat. But now, you don't feel like he'll stop when you're down. Suddenly, you're flying back into the AC unit. Your entire body aches. You try to get up but he's standing over you, stance serious. He raises his sword and--

You don't sleep much.

...

Karkat thinks it's his duty to teach you about Troll movies.

"No, dude," you insist. "This literally looks like shit."

"Ignoring how culturally ignorant that is," Karkat starts, "I will have you know that Troll Robert Pattinson is a fucking treasure and his movies are staples of Alternian culture." You hear a distant "no they're not" from Vriska who's grabbing something from the refrigerator, but you ignore her. 

"Oh my god. Dude is this Troll Twilight? Are you shitting me? I'm not watching that."

"Dave, if you would just listen to me..." he keeps rambling for awhile, but you're not listening to any of his bullshit. You are, however, watching his hand gestures with a warm sense of familiarity. That's another thing about Karkat; his exaggerated motions accompany every word he speaks, and you find it kind of endearing. This is somehow despite the fact that he is constantly ~~yelling~~ talking and therefore usually waving his hands around like a lunatic. 

You guess you're just at that bro level where you appreciate the little things.

...

You're trying to decide which Troll food is edible when you overhear something odd.

"--don't know where he could have gotten to!" Vriska's hissing. "Have you seen him?"

"No," Kanaya replies. She still sounds cool but you can sense unease in her tone. "Well he obviously hasn't been in any common areas, so maybe he still has some self-preservation instincts."

"I don't know," Terezi's off. You don't know how to describe it though, cause you've never heard her like this. "I don't trust him. I think we should look for him."

You're about to go over and ask what the fresh fuck they're talking about, but suddenly Karkat's yelling about how your "slimy digits" are on his favorite snack and you're holding it over his head cause he's too short and it's fun to antagonize him.

You forget all about it.

...

Karkat's such an asshole.

He's your best bro, but sometimes when he's screaming about some shit Vriska said to him you can't help but want to flip off the couch and hit your head on the floor so you don't have to hear any more of his bullshit.

You do usually find it amusing, however.

Sometimes you antagonize him on purpose, and you sit there while he spews angry nonsense into your glasses. You rotate between keeping a completely neutral expression and a smirk, but the smirk produces the more entertaining rants, so you favor it. You just watch him as he riles himself up and you can't help but feel some weird sense of right in the whole situation.

You're not sure what the fuck is up with that. 

...

You keep having the nightmares.

It's getting harder to stay awake during the team meetings. You've resorted to drinking the shit coffee the meteor has to offer almost constantly, since sleep apparently isn’t an option. When you do drift off to Vriska's drone of self-worship, the arc of Bro's blade is enough to snap you back to consciousness. At first it was obvious when you startled awake, and you had to make a hasty retreat when they started asking questions, but now you've gotten so used to it you barely move. You're at the point where you almost ask Karkat to give into his urge to strangle you so you can have a few minutes of bliss before God Tier resurrects you. You're kind of afraid it would qualify as a Just death, though.

You're just so tired.

...

You're also bored.

You've taken to trying to teach Karkat how to make sick beats. He seems to enjoy the ones you've shown him, so he tries his hand at it. Sure, he scratches the turn table a few times with his claws, and his method is all over the place, but you like the look of satisfaction he gets whenever he makes something he's proud of. You think pride suits him.

God, you really need to sleep.

...

You end up watching Troll Twilight.

It's somehow even shittier than the human version. Karkat loves it though, and fighting him about it is _way_ more interesting than the movie.

"Okay, look, Jacob and Edward having black feelings for each other is one of the most important subplots of the movie! They--"

"But if they both want bang Bella isn't that a conflict of interest for their weird hate-fucking?" You taunt him. You can feel him literally vibrating on the couch next to you. 

"No! Because--shit, this is the best part."

"But--"

"Shut the fuck up Strider!"

At some point you end up watching Karkat instead of his godawful movie. The meteor has felt particularly cold recently, so he's bundled in at least 5 blankets, his horns and mop of hair the only indication that he's in there. He looks so small. It's cute enough it just makes you wanna hug him. 

You've been having more trouble ignoring these thoughts.

...

You decide wandering into the common room without Karkat is a dangerous game.

Every time you come in, Rose and Kanaya are somehow doing something completely mundane while also draped over each other. It is kind of cute, but you also like giving Rose a hard time so you usually like to make fun of them. Vriska and Terezi usually waltz in, concocting a weird scheme without taking their eyes off of each other. It's way too many relationships for your liking. 

This time, you're sitting at the table trying to mix ill beats. You look at the lesbians sitting around the room and suddenly, you're imagining you and Karkat contributing to the queerfest. You think about how nice it'd be to have him sitting not only next to you but basically on you like Kanaya and Rose are situated almost constantly. You imagine the two of you teaming up against Vriska and Terezi while sharing body heat in this shitty meteor. You conjure up an image of you taunting Rose about her alien girlfriend, then leaning over and kissing your alien boyfriend.

Motherfucker.

You definitely have feelings for that asshole.

...

Later, in an effort to ignore your weird lapse in rational thought, you talk to Rose.

"Hello, dear brother." She's curled up on the couch with Kanaya nowhere in sight. 

"Sup. Where's your troll girlfriend?" You ask, trying to get a rise out of her.

"Why, I have no idea what you could be talking about," she replies coyly. "Kanaya and I are simply learning about each other's cultures. She's been teaching me about troll romance." The end of her lip quirks up a bit more. "Speaking of troll romance, how's Karkat?"

Yeah, this was a bad idea.

"I, uh," you start eloquently. "I'm not gay." She makes a satisfied hm sound then motions to you to continue. "But I've been having some..."

"Gay thoughts?" she provides. You gulp and nod. You can't find yourself to vocalize it just yet. "Well, we have quite some time until we land in the new session. I hope you can sort out your identity crisis before then."

Yeah, you hope so too.

...

You've been watching a lot of movies with Karkat recently.

There's not much else to do, so you usually end up on his bed watching shitty Troll romcoms. You don't even care at this point, cause you're just watching him for about 90% of the movie. You take in every inch of his face under the changing lights, memorizing every crease, every facial tick.

God, you are so fucked.

...

The lack of sleep is getting to you.

At this point, you see Bro more than you see Rose, and that's mostly cause Rose sleeps when you're awake.

You sit in the kitchen with your heads in your hands and you wish. you. could. just. sleep.

You decide to stop trying. 

...

You've been exploring more.

With more time on your hands, you figured it was as good of an idea as any. One night, you're cruising down one of the abandoned hallways, glasses even off cause _fuck,_ it's dark in here and no one's around to see you. You find a weird path on the floor and decide to follow it. 

As far as you can see, it's a crudely drawn trail running down the hallway. You're not sure what color it is, but you think Terezi must've drawn it. You follow it for awhile. At the end, you find yourself in a room cast in eerie green light with strange animals suspended in tubes. Terezi's pretty weird, but you feel like this isn't exactly her scene. You look down at the path.

It's not chalk.

It's troll blood.

You run back to your room and slam the door, holding yourself up against it as you try to quell the erratic beating of your heart.

You don't do any more exploring after that.

...

You keep falling asleep whenever you have movie "dates".

One minute you're telling Karkat his movie's shit and the next, you're conked out on his shoulder. It'd be a bit embarrassing if you weren't already bros, but you're at the point where this kind of stuff is cool between you two. You squash the part of your brain that says it's gay and try to catch a few more z's.

One night, he's shaking you awake cause you apparently fell asleep again. He asks you about it. 

"I, uh, haven't been sleeping well," you admit. "Your movies are so shit that they put me right to sleep."

He looks like he's about to argue with you for a second, then sighs. "Well, you look too dead on your feet to walk back to your block, and I'm sure as fuck not carrying you, so you can sleep here." You _are_ basically laying down on his bed at this point. oops.

"But like," you yawn again. He raises his eyebrow. You sigh. "Where will you sleep?"

"Also here," he replies matter-of-factly.

"Uh," this seems like a bad idea oh fuck. "Okay."

He closes the husktop and lays down, facing away from you.

You take off your shades and place them besides the bed, then stare at his back for awhile.

You fall asleep to the sound of his breathing.

...

When you wake up you're entwined.

In your sleep you started spooning Karkat. Shit.

While you try to process how to get out of this situation, he starts shifting. He turns to face you, and you immediately slam your eyes shut; he hasn't seen them yet. You've ruined the only good thing in your life and you didn't even open your fucking mouth to do it this time. You lay there, frozen for who knows how long before you feel a hand on your cheek. You tense. You're thinking about how to get the fuck out of there when he speaks.

"Dave," he says, softer than you've ever heard him say anything. His thumb caresses over your eyelid. "Please?"

You don't move for a few minutes. You haven't let anyone see them. Even _Rose_ hasn't seen them.

But Karkat's a mutant too, you suppose. And you do trust him. You guess you even love him.

Slowly, you open your eyes.

He stares for what feels like an eternity, mouth slightly open. You want to run. You feel too vulnerable. It's simultaneously everything you've ever wanted and everything you've dreaded. You're breathing heavily and you're about to book it the fuck out of there and lock yourself in your room for the next year and a half. As if sensing your impending flight, Karkat runs his thumb over your cheek again. You feel like crying. You close your eyes and he pulls you closer.

Your lips meet.

...

The next night, you dream again.

Bro's standing across from you on the roof.

He's holding your phone, and you can see the distinct red and gray text filling the screen. You think you're about to vomit. He throws the phone to the ground, shattering it, then rushes at you. You try to defend yourself, but when he brings the sword through your chest you wake up and suddenly you can't breathe.

You don't know how, but you find your way to Karkat's room. He starts yelling about knocking, but once you slump to the ground he rushes over. He combs his fingers through your hair and pulls you to his bed and holds you. You sob against his chest while he runs his claws over your back for who knows how long.

Neither of you sleep that night.

...

The next night you show up to his room when it's time to sleep.

He holds the blankets up for you and you crawl in and hold him close.

...

You start sleeping again.

...

Rose takes notice.

"About time." She tells you. 

You ask her about Troll romance.

...

It takes everything you have to say something, but you suppose it'll be worth it in the end.

"So are we matesprits?" You ask him. You're laying with your head in his lap and he's playing with your hair. You're watching a human movie tonight, but you haven't been paying any attention.

"I think we're closer to moirails," he answers honestly, running his claws over your scalp. You hum and lean into his touch. "But you're shit at staying in a quadrant, so I'm not completely sure. I guess this is what I get for getting into a relationship with a human." You pull him down for a gentle kiss, lingering, then turn back to the movie.

You don't even fall asleep this time.

...

You've been hearing honks recently, but you think it's just the vents acting up.

...

One day when you're mixing ill beats in the common area with Karkat, Terezi and Vriska rush in.

"Hey, Kanaya, we need to borrow you for a second," Terezi looks nervous. She's standing stiffly, her posture distinctly uncomfortable.

Rose rises for a second so Kanaya can get out from her seat under her, then gives her girlfriend a kiss. Karkat shoots Vriska a look and she brushes him off. "Don't worry so much Karkat, it's fine." 

The three troll-ladies transportalize away.

The two of you aren't involved much in the landing-planning process, so you get back to your art.

...

You've been exploring each others bodies more.

You've found he purrs when you mess with his horns and he's been learning your scars, tracing them as if to commit them to memory. You also find out that troll anatomy definitely isn't the same as yours. It makes for an awkward first time but second time's the charm, you guess.

You've never felt more at home.

...

Terezi's seemed on edge for a few days.

Whenever you're in Can Town with her and Karkat, she keeps startling and raising her nose to the air. You try to ask her about it, but she tells you its "not your issue".

Whatever.

...

You're sleeping when it happens.

For once, your dreams are surprisingly uneventful and pretty chill, but suddenly the air is thick and you feel like you're choking so you wake up.

For a second, you think your brain pulled a fast one on you, but there's something off about the room. A god-awful stench is permeating the area; you've never smelled anything like it. An overwhelming sense of dread is filling your lungs. You pull yourself closer to Karkat, then open your eyes.

At first, it seems fine.

Then, you see the eyes. Murderclown is standing at the foot of the bed.

You are so fucked.

"Honk," he grins. His club is bearing down towards you.

"Shit!" you yell, pushing you and Karkat off of to the other side of the bed. You grab your sword and hold it out in front of you, shaking. You don't even have your shades on, so your fear is being fully broadcast to the insane troll who invaded your room

"Dave, what the--" Karkat notices the giant murderclown in the room. He freezes. "Gamzee, what the _fuck_ are you doing in here?"

"I just thought it was motherfucking time to say hey to my bro." Gamzee says. "And the blasphemous mother fucker he's decided to replace me with."

"Get. the fuck. Out." Karkat hisses. Gamzee chuckles and moves to the center of the room. You move Karkat behind you protectively, but he tries to push in front of you. "What I do is none of your fucking business."

"I'd beg TO DISAGREE, brother," Gamzee's volume is wildly fluctuating. You're actually afraid of this douchebag holy shit. "When my MOTHERFUCKING MOIRAIL ALL UP AND LEFT ME, I had to know the fuck why." You shiver as his gaze locks on you. His eyes are lidded and it feels like he's a lion assessing his meal. "I all up and understand now."

"Maybe it's cause you're actually insane," you say. His eyes narrow and you back up instinctively. Fuck.

"Nah, brother. You already filled my head with MOTHERFUCKING LIES once. YOU, YOU CORRUPTED HIM. Filled his head with motherfucking blasphemies." He grins. "Well today, today I take back what's mother. fucking. mine."

Before you can raise your guard he's coming at you, clubs at the ready. You parry one of his blows, but the other catches your side and you hiss as it makes contact. Karkat's getting out his sickles, but you don't want the fight anywhere near him so you flash step behind Gamzee and slice open his back. He lets out a loud honk before bringing a club down on your shoulder. There's white hot pain and a large crack. You scream as you fall to the floor. You lay on your side, arm useless, sword a few feet away. Gamzee looks down on you and a face-splitting grin fills his face. You make to get up but he pushes his foot into your shoulder and suddenly there's only agony. Your shoulder is screeching but Karkat's engaging Gamzee now, and the size difference alone makes you want to vomit. Gamzee picks Karkat up like he's nothing and flings him onto the bed, then advances with a leering look on his face. Karkat's standing on the bed, one sickle in hand. He's shaking like a leaf and you want nothing more than to wrap yourself around him and take him away from here.

You push yourself to your sword and try to think of how the fuck to get him away from Karkat. You don't want that fucker anywhere near him. You don't know what Gamzee wants with him, but Karkat isn't god tier, so if Gamzee kills him it's over. You're pretty sure you'd go back and put yourself in a doomed timeline if you had to though. You barely spare a thought for the possibly heroic death this fight could land you with and throw your sword at the clown's leg. He wasn't paying attention to you, so it lands true and slices his ankle. He bellows and falls to one knee, turning to you, eyes bright red. You know you're fucked.

Karkat goes to swing at Gamzee, but suddenly he's right in front of you and has a vice grip on your fucking throat. You try to pry his hands from your windpipe but he just gives the biggest grin you've ever seen on his messed up clown face. He throws you through the door into the hall, and you feel your back make direct contact with a wall before you hear screaming. It's you, oh jegus. Your back feels like it's on fire as you crumple to the ground, useless. You're pretty sure he fucked something up cause your legs aren't listening to you and you feel like you're about to black out. You _can't_ black out. 

Gamzee's limping his way over to you and Karkat's nowhere in sight. You don't know what he did to him but right now all you can do is drag your useless body by your one good arm away from the fucking murderclown. You think you're crying, cause you're pretty sure he hurt Karkat. He's gaining on you pretty quickly for a guy with a shit leg, but you guess you have shit _legs_ so he has the upper hand. You're so tired and he's getting so close so you close your eyes and--

"Karkat, _what_ is-- jegus!" You pry your eyes open and see Vriska and Terezi standing by the transportalizer at the end of the hall. After a few seconds, Rose and Kanaya appear behind them. You try to focus on what they're saying, but it's getting so hard to stay conscious. 

"Dave!" You hear and you know you're crying now cause Karkat's alive and it wasn't all for nothing.

Kanaya's got her chainsaw and Vriska's and Terezi have their swords at the ready. Gamzee stares at them for a second, then looks down at you. He apparently decides it's not worth it, cause a second later he's booking it towards the other transportalizer and Kanaya and Vriska are in hot pursuit. Rose and Terezi rush to you and the last thing you feel before losing consciousness is Karkat holding your hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the comments y'all I really appreciate it. I think this'll be the last chapter.

The first time you wake up, it doesn't go well.

You open your eyes and immediately vomit over the edge of the bed. Rose is ready with a trash can. "Fucking seer powers," you mumble. You know others in the room are talking, but you can't process it. Everything is too loud and too bright.

You pass out.

...

The next time you regain consciousness, it's Vriska and Terezi at your bedside.

"Hey cool kid," Terezi says. "How was your nap?"

"Oh you know," you croak out. Your throat feels impossibly dry and your head is pounding. You have no idea where your shades are, so you guess the cat's out of the bag. "My sleep was so peaceful you'd think I was in a poppy field. Toto had to pull me onto the yellow brick road so I'd wake the fuck up." 

"I've heard almost getting killed is great for insomnia," she responds with a shiteating grin. There's something a little off about it, though. You think she almost looks a little... guilty?

Vriska clears her throat from the other side of the bed. "Rose told me to give you this," she says, holding out a glass of god-knows-what. You reach for it but shit, that's the shoulder Gamzee fucked up and the pain hits you like a truck.

You're unconscious before your fingers can touch the glass.

...

"--don't know. I'm not a medical professional," Rose is saying. Your body feels too heavy and trying to move anything threatens to pull you under again. So, you wait.

"But I'm guessing spinal injuries are just as bad for humans as trolls," Kanaya sounds farther away. You wish your eyes would open.

"Oh yes," Rose replies. "I'm not sure how god tier will affect his healing, but usually it can take multiple years for humans to recover from similar injuries."

Cold panic rushes through you. It's enough for you to regain full feeling, but you push through the pain. There's no way in hell you're dealing with that right now. Your eyes shoot open and you sit up. "Rose, calm down. I'm fine," spills out of your mouth. You move to the edge of the bed and barely hear Rose's sounds of protest before your feet touch the ground. Well, your feet and the rest of you because when they make contact you promptly cry out and fall forward. Turns out you have to deal with it, cause your legs don't fucking work and the brief second of holding up your body weight caused enough pain to make you sick. Good thing you already cleared your stomach. You're now laying face down on the ground with Rose and Kanaya fussing around you trying to figure out how best to move you.

Of course, Karkat chooses this moment to walk in.

"Dave, what the fuck are you doing out of bed!" He's pissed. He stomps his way over to you and the three of them manage to situate you back on the bed. You have to bite your lip to stop yourself from gasping in pain, cause jegus, the clown really did a number on you. Not only has he messed up your back, but you have bruises everywhere, you're pretty sure a few ribs are broken, and your left arm is currently in a sling. Karkat doesn't seem to be any worse for wear, though, so you consider your state a small price to pay. Once you're sitting on the bed again, he moves to sit on your right side, legs flush against each other. Rose asks how you're feeling.

"Like I got run over by a motherfucker doing 80 in a 20, going so fucking fast the dude didn't see me or the school children on the cross walk. Now he's drinking in his apartment cause he's gotta live with the guilt of seeing all those little eyes on him before crushing their little preschool dreams."

Rose rolls her eyes and explains her prognosis. Your shoulder got dislocated, you have 2 broken ribs, and your spine is screwed up in a way no one knows how to help since none of them have any medical expertise. Rose and Kanaya leave, and you bury your head in Karkat's neck while he runs his hands up and down your right arm as if to reassure himself you're here.

Goddammit.

...

You spend the next few days in your room drifting in and out of consciousness.

You know it's your body trying to heal itself, but you wish you could stay awake for more than an hour at a time. Since your blood is strewn all over Karkat's block, neither of you really want to sleep there. So, Karkat's taken to reading his shitty romance books out loud to you. Every time you wake up you make sure to remind him they're complete ass, and he stills his fingers in your hair for just enough time to launch into a tirade about how you're being xenophobic. His shouting almost makes you forget about the intense pain you're in, but every time you move to alleviate a crick in your neck the impact of your current state comes rushing back full force.

You have a nightmare one time, and by the time Karkat's managed to shake you awake your body's screaming at you and you have to bury your head in his chest, shaking. You wish you had painkillers, but no one's managed to alchemize anything resembling even Advil, and you're not about to take any of the weird pills Vriska's sworn are fine. 

You've never felt so weak.

...

Rose and you decide to spend some quality sibling time together.

Karkat's gone to get food with Kanaya, and you're glad he's getting a break. You feel like a huge burden at this point. You tried telling Karkat, but he went off on you about how you're in this mess because of him, so think you both have more than enough guilt. Rose is knitting at the end of the bed. When she came in she asked if you wanted some booze to alleviate the pain, but with your family history you're not taking any chances. Your rejection of the drink seems to have dissuaded her from drinking it with you, thank fuck, so she set the bottle by the door. She's been telling you about her and Kanaya, but you end up lapsing into a comfortable silence. You decide it's the right time to ask "so, what happened to the clown?"

Rose looks up at you for a second as if contemplating the right reaction, then turns back to her craft. "He originally escaped Kanaya and Vriska, so we took turns taking watch over you. Kanaya saw him crawling out of one of the vents a few days later, so the trolls stuffed him in a refrigerator."

"They put him in a fridge," you deadpan.

"Yes," Rose replies, looking satisfied. "They locked him up and threw away the key."

You've never been happier to live with a bunch of crazy girls.

...

After a few days, you try walking again.

The attempt turns out to be almost as catastrophic as the first time around, but Karkat and Kanaya are there to catch you this time when you fall. You're about to lose your cool when Rose speaks up.

"Obviously, you should probably learn to walk again eventually, but you could just fly for now."

You float out of the troll's grip, hovering a few feet over the ground. Your cool guy facade breaks and you smile, happy to be able to "stand" on your own again. Karkat's face mirrors your own and you reach out to caress his cheek.

You promptly fall to the ground, the exertion too much for your healing body,

...

It turns out pulling your legs though the air actually hurts a lot.

You hadn't considered it before, but it makes sense that if you're too focused on your pain, you won't be able to fly. You've taken to holding onto Karkat's shoulder and letting him pull you along the halls. This way, you only have to focus on the floating and not the direction. You still manage to fall and hurt yourself, and Karkat tries to get you to stay in bed, but you refuse to be immobile. At least you can kind of get around the meteor now.

The issue arises when you wake up in the middle of the night.

You _really_ have to piss, but you don't want to wake Karkat up. It's stupid, but you want the sense of autonomy you've been missing for the last few weeks, and you don't want to bother him with something as trivial as going to the bathroom. You painstakingly extract yourself from his grip and hover off of the bed. You exit the room and slowly float down the hall, gritting your teeth through the pain. By the time you get to the bathroom, you're gasping, drenched in sweat. It's almost too much. But, you got yourself here, so you do your business and steel yourself for the trip back.

About halfway down your hall, you end up falling. Your legs are killing you, and you don't think you'll be able to get back up, so you resort to crawling. It's been feeling better the last few days, so you extract your arm from the sling and try to pull yourself towards your room. You reach out, but apparently it's not healed enough cause the pain is too much. It's too reminiscent of how you were crawling away from Gamzee and despite the fact that you _know_ he's not here, the fear paralyzes you and you curl into a ball to block out the pain and how scared you feel.

Karkat finds you an hour later, his eyes filled with fatigue. He gently lifts you into his arms and presses a kiss to your forehead before bringing you back to bed.

...

You get better.

Your shoulder heals and the two of you start spending more time in the common area. You make fun of Rose for how soft Kanaya makes her and ask Terezi if she's going on a date every time she leaves with Vriska. The six of you watch movies together and you all always end up throwing pillows at Kanaya and Rose because they can't make it through any movie without macking. Terezi asks you how you and Karkat manage your relationship outside of quadrants and when you finally see them kiss you cheer Terezi on while Karkat screams for more decorum. Even the team meetings are manageable and you don't even fall asleep anymore.

You still can't walk but it doesn't matter because you have Karkat and everything else feels right in the world.

...

It happens when you're not expecting it.

Karkat's gone to the kitchen for food and left you on the couch. You really want some chips but when you call out to Karkat you don't get a response. He's taking a stupid amount of time so you steel yourself and off of the couch towards the kitchen. You hear him drop something and let out a loud curse. It's enough to startle you and you drop, arms grabbing the chair near you for support. Your feet are on the ground and although your legs feel shaky and there's still some pain, you push off the chair and take a step, and another, and another until you're ungracefully making your way to the kitchen sans floating. Karkat finally exits the kitchen, and when he sees you he drops the food and rushes forward with a huge grin on his face. He's laughing and you're close to tears so you bury your face in his shoulder and hold him tight.

When the others find out, Rose floats the two of you into the air and twirls you around. Kanaya simply smiles and congratulates you. Vriska high fives you, and while you're not the best of friends, you can see in her eyes that she's proud of you. Terezi tells you as much, and lets you know this affirms your cool kid status.

You're not sure about that though, cause you're pretty sure you're feeling too sappy about your fucked-up meteor family to still be considered "cool".

...

After awhile, you feel almost normal.

Sure, your legs still bother you, especially at night, and the only thing that saves you from your nightmares is Karkat waking you up and showing you he's alive, but you finally feel human again. You go back to Can Town and boy, is it booming with the suburbs finally being constructed. The mayor's glad you're finally back, and Karkat and Terezi and sometimes even Vriska argue about where to put buildings and which chalk colors would best suit certain roads in a distinctly domestic kind of way. You don't know how everything suddenly clicked into place, but the meteor's been peaceful and you're almost afraid for when you land. You tell Rose as much.

You can tell she has her psychoanalysis goggles on. "You know Karkat's not going to leave you, right?" Her voice is soft and reassuring.

You wish she couldn't see right through you.

...

One night, after you've mapped every inch of Karkat's body and you're laying in bed against him, he speaks up.

"What do you think will happen to us after we meet up with the others?" He's quiet, hesitant.

"What do you mean?" You ask. Your heart is beating erratically and you keep your head on his chest in an attempt to play it cool. 

He's silent for a second. You can feel him take in a deep breath before he continues. "I mean, will we still get to be together?" He sounds so nervous you can't stand it. You pick your head up and look down at him. You don't have your shades on, so you hope he can see how earnest you're being.

You bring your hand up to his cheek. "Yeah? No offense dog but that's a dumb question," you tell him. You try to comfort him by stroking his face but he squeezes his eyes shut.

"No but see, we're gonna meet all these other people. You're gonna have a fucking heartfelt reunion, but where does that leave me?" A tear slips out of his eye and you swipe it away before he starts full out crying.

"With me, bro."

...

There's only about a month left.

You all train. You and Karkat spar and Vriska will jump in and suddenly the entire meteor is up in arms. Vriska usually wins but you swear its because she keeps putting you to sleep right when you're about to take her down. You know three years ago you'd be annoyed, but honestly, you're just amused at this point.

You make sure to captchalogue your favorite snacks so you can alchemize more when you land. You hope John still has some aj in his fridge, cause the stuff Rose finally figured out how to make tastes like apple-flavored sour candy, and that's just not right. Karkat gets better at mixing beats, you find one of his troll movies you don't think is complete ass, and you spend almost every waking hour together. You try to make sure he knows you won't abandon him.

...

Your name is Dave Strider.

You're on the roof of what's been your home for the last three years. You can see the light of Skaia off in the distance even though your shades. You're standing with your boyfriend, your sister, and a trio of alien broads who've all become your family. You know the rest of your family is there, waiting for you, but so are the big bads of the game. You don't think you're ready, but Karkat squeezes your hand and you decide that you have to be.

You have too much to lose to go out without a fight.

**Author's Note:**

> lmk what y'all think


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